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Ferdinand strode through the glass doors to the library and glanced around with a grimace. It was one of those left-behind-in-the-eighties kinds of college libraries, where the ancient wooden tables had long since acquired a patina of scratched graffiti, and the shelves groaned under too many books stuffed in too little space. Armchairs holding half-asleep students crowded the main hall, while hallways branched off haphazardly to other wings.
Unfortunately, more than an open armchair or heavy textbook, what he needed at the moment was directions. He squinted at the fading directory board on the wall, with arrows claiming to point the way to different sections of the library. It failed to convey any meaningful information, leaving him with few options.
Ferdinand sighed, looking around for an information desk. Wandering the halls would be terribly inefficient, and he had little time to spare. Spotting the return desk on the far side of the room, he strode across to where a young woman sat, absorbed in her book. He expected her to look up as he approached– certainly she could not fail to notice when his shadow dimmed the glare from the fluorescent lights.
She did not.
He frowned, clearing his throat. When she did not react, he peered closer, wondering if she was actually an employee. But no, he could see the edge of her lanyard peeking out from beneath the collar of her shirt. Finally, he waved his hand over her book, making her jump.
When she looked up, it was his turn to tense. Her eyes were like the reflection of the moon on a foggy night– a liquid golden color a shade darker than his own.
“Ah! I’m so sorry! I, um, didn’t hear you approach…” She closed the book with a guilty look and jumped to her feet. “Can I help you?”
Standing, she barely came up to his chin. Absent-mindedly, he noticed her midnight blue hair had tangled with the clip holding her name badge. According to it, her name was ‘Rozemyne.’ He caught himself a moment before he reached out to free it. What is wrong with me? It was not like himself to be so… attentive.
Shoving less than helpful thoughts from his mind, he crossed his arms. “Do you carry archives of physical journals? I am looking for a 1995 edition of Angewandte Chemie and a 1997 edition of Organic Syntheses.”
“Ohh, hmm. Chemistry journals, right? We have subscriptions you can access online if you…” She trailed off at his expression. “Erm, right. Actually, we still have physical archives in the basement if you would like to take a look!”
He nodded in relief. Raimund had called with the suggested articles after searching every possible online database for the reactions Ferdinand had requested. Unfortunately, reading articles online was rarely productive for him; he preferred to feel the physical pages between his fingers. Something about the tactile sensation always led to deeper insights on whatever problem he pursued.
The librarian led him to a set of elevators and pressed the ‘down’ button. The library had several sub-basement levels, all the way down to their destination on the fifth. “So, you’re a chemist, huh? I haven't seen you around before – are you a new professor?"
She looked up while the elevator rattled its way to their floor. Once again, Ferdinand steeled himself to meet her gaze. Something about it made him feel dizzy, as if gazing down from a height at the rippling reflection of the moon.
"I am visiting to give a lecture this afternoon," he said.
"Ohhh, just passing through then."
He gave a curt nod as the elevator dinged, the metal doors opening with a squeal.
Ferdinand had never liked elevators, but he was hardly going to say so in front of the librarian– no, Rozemyne. Odd that her name should stick in his memory when he usually discarded similarly useless information. He stepped into the elevator after her and braced himself for the jolting ride to the basement. Rozemyne apparently had no qualms about the relative safety of the elevator and instead peppered him with questions about his lecture.
"What branch of chemistry do you study?"
Ferdinand sighed. "Natural product synthesis." He expected the conversation to end there, but Rozemyne merely tilted her head in thought.
"Oh. Just researching reactions or more for drug synthesis?”
“...My current avenue of research concerns the preparation of highly substituted cyclohexenes, aiming to improve both reaction yields and searching for more inexpensive precursors.” Ferdinand glanced down as the elevator finally shuddered to a halt. Conversational opponents tended to disengage at this point, having sensed the impending lecture if they continued.
“Oh good! My insurance keeps denying my heart medication. It would be nice if it were cheaper!” Rozemyne jabbed at a button and the doors wheezed open with a rattle.
“Don't…” share your personal medical information with complete strangers, you fool! Feeling uncharacteristically off-balance, Ferdinand swallowed back the retort and followed her into the dim basement.
The buzzy fluorescent lights flickered on with a few pops, illuminating a stretch of metal shelving units packed with dusty boxes. Next to him, Rozemyne coughed a few times and gave a single delicate sneeze.
Delicate? Really? That is not what I should be focusing on right now! Ferdinand made an effort to drag his thoughts away from the librarian and strode over to the shelves, squinting at the faded labels on the boxes. Literary journals, psychology journals, then biology journals on the next shelf. Finally he tracked down chemistry publications and scanned the boxes for the titles he needed.
“Over here, Mr.- err…”
Ferdinand turned to see her attempting to slide a filing box off a shelf above her head. She stood on tip-toes, giving a little hop that made her silky midnight-blue hair shimmer.
“Be careful!” Ferdinand snatched the box off from its teetering position above her head. “They're heavy, it could have fallen on you!” he said with exasperation.
Rozemyne sneezed again in the ensuing cloud of dust. “Oh, whoops! No harm done though, thanks!” She smiled up at him, moon-like eyes a bit watery from the dust.
“...It's Ferdinand. My name, that is.” He turned around and quickly set the box down on an empty shelf to rifle through it. Thankfully, the labeling proved accurate and he located the correct issue without trouble.
“Got it? Oh good, the other one should be over here…”
Ferdinand trailed after her and acquired the second journal, tucking them both under his arm. “You seem to know your way around here well.”
“Of course! Ms. Solange let me tackle reorganizing this place a few years ago! Shame that almost no one comes down here to borrow anything though. You're the first in… quite a while!” Rozemyne beamed at him.
Was it always this hot down here? Surely they should maintain a low temperature for better preservation conditions. Ferdinand tugged at the collar of his button down shirt. Lab wear was so much more comfortable than the formal attire Lasfam had foisted on him this morning.
The elevator wheezed back down towards their sub-basement level before coming to a halt with an unholy screech maybe a floor above them. Rozemyne frowned. “Oh no. This one is always acting up.” She poked the button a few more times and peered up at the doors. “I do hope no-one’s trapped…”
“Stairs it is.” Ferdinand abandoned the elevator as a lost cause and quickly headed over to the stairs.
“Oh… erm, maybe I'll just wait here for the elevator to fix itself.”
“But it's only-” Ferdinand quickly cut himself off. What had she mentioned earlier? Medication for a heart condition?
Rozemyne coughed again and gave him a little wave. “No worries! I'm sure you have lots to do! Ms. Solange will come get me at some point.”
Ferdinand let the door fall shut. “I can't leave you down here with a broken elevator and no way to return to the main library.” His phone buzzed as he spoke. That was probably Justus, reminding him of the lunch meeting with the dean of the university. He ignored it.
“Right. How much exertion is dangerous for you? Do you have signs that indicate you have pushed past your limits?”
“Um. Well, I'm prone to just sort of… collapsing, I suppose. I've been told it's quite alarming. But maybe one flight at a time won't be too bad?” She gave the door to the stairs a doubtful look.
“Slow is perfectly fine.” It was not fine, he was supposed to be sitting down to eat somewhere hideously expensive with the dean in 10 minutes.
By the third flight up, Rozemyne had chattered so much that Ferdinand felt like he had met her entire family. He had also seen at least twelve pictures of her newest little brother Kamil, and was getting increasingly concerned about the grey pallor of her face.
“We should stop a moment more to rest,” he suggested, resisting the urge to hover over her.
Rozemyne gave a small nod and sagged down to sit on the top step. “You should just go on ahead… I'm sorry I'm holding you up. That person keeps trying to call you.”
Ferdinand winced, slipping a hand into his jacket pocket to turn off the buzzing phone. “It's not important.”
Worryingly, Rozemyne simply nodded, her head drooping. For someone who had been peppering him with stories, questions, and amusing anecdotes seemingly non-stop, this was rather concerning behavior.
“Alright, let's keep going!” After a moment, Rozemyne stood and swayed, grabbing at the handrail. When she missed, Ferdinand reached out to steady her without thinking. The journals he was holding tumbled down the stairs, pages splaying across the floor.
“Nooo! The books!” Rozemyne, fool she was, turned and made an awkward lunge for them, completely disregarding that she was standing precariously at the top of the stairs.
Ferdinand snatched her back, wrapping one arm around her waist, and grabbed the banister with the other.
“What were you thinking!?” She was feverishly hot to the touch and Ferdinand released her as soon as she was steady, trying to clear his head of the lemony scent of her shampoo. “Don't try to throw yourself down the stairs over some scientific journals! Don't you have any sense of self-preservation!? Stay there and don't move!” Ferdinand snatched up the papers and hurried back up the stairs, scowling.
Rozemyne looked suitably guilty when he returned. “I'm sorry, some of the pages fell out because of me.”
Of course. She was guilty over the damaged books, not because she had nearly dived down the stairs head first. Ferdinand tapped his temple and sighed.
“Change of plans. If you cannot be trusted to avoid beckoning your own doom, I will simply have to carry you the rest of the way.”
“W- what? That's not necessary! Err, Mr- sorry, Dr. Ferdinand, I know I'm being an enormous bother. You really needn’t go out of your way to help.”
“You aren't a bother. Hold still.” Ferdinand passed her the journals and hesitated for a moment, trying to decide the best way to pick her up. Unsurprisingly, he was not well-versed in picking up women. Particularly ones that blushed crimson and then snuggled towards him when he attempted to situate them. He nearly dropped her on reflex. “Just… don't move around too much,” he muttered weakly, staring straight ahead instead of down at her far-too-close face.
Barely a minute later, he let her down on the landing by the ground floor door. Her breathing had settled out into something less concerning, and her color was coming back. Ferdinand took a large-ish step away, trying not to make it obvious. She wasn't heavy at all, but he felt strangely… winded from the climb.
“Thank you so much! Sorry for all the trouble, Dr. Ferdinand!”
“Just Ferdinand is fine,” he muttered, pushing the door open.
“Oh! There you are, Rozemyne! Goodness, I was beginning to worry!” An older woman came bustling over, wearing a nametag that read ‘Solange.’ “You came up the stairs? Are you alright? Is the elevator on the fritz again?” She gave Ferdinand a suspicious look, which he strangely appreciated. Rozemyne might not have a lick of common sense, happy to lead strange men into the basement alone, but at least one of her coworkers had her priorities in order.
“We’re fine! The elevator’s toast again though. Let me check those out for you, Ferdinand!”
He gave her colleague a nod and quickly followed Rozemyne over to the checkout counter. She signed him up for a visiting researcher pass and scanned the journals before handing them over.
“Was that everything I could help you with today?”
Ferdinand winced. Her words held less of the rambling, friendly tone she had used to share stories of her family during their trip up the stairs and more the cadence of a customer service persona, slipping down between them again like a veil. It shouldn't have bothered him, and yet…
“No, thank you for all of your help. Please… take care.”
“Of course! Mom and Tuuli and Ms. Solange are the best, they're always looking out for me!”
Ferdinand found that he knew who all of those people were. That pleased him, strangely enough.
He turned to leave, journals tucked under one arm. Halfway to the doors, he paused.
Rozemyne looked up from her book this time as he approached. “Did you forget something?”
“Here.” He offered his phone, an open contact page already pulled up. “My colleague, Dr. Hirschur, is planning a clinical trial of a new heart medication next month. I can get you into it, if you would like.”
“Oh! That would be great!” Rozemyne tapped out her information and handed the phone back with a brilliant smile. “See you again soon, then!”
“Yes. See you… soon.”
It was a beautiful fall day outside the library doors, warm with just a hint of autumn chill. Ferdinand answered his phone as it rang yet again and Justus demanded to know where he was.
“Just on my way back from the library. Pick me up outside the administration office.”
“You sound weirdly… cheerful. You didn't inhale anything strange at the lab earlier, did you?”
Ferdinand didn't justify that with a response and hung up the call. Rozemyne’s contact page appeared on the screen. She'd added a little book image next to her name, followed by a sparkly heart. How utterly baffling. Perhaps Justus would have answers.